Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii: Bang Bang Batting Guide

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii: Bang Bang Batting Guide Bang Bang Batting opens during Chapter 2 in Madlantis's Bar District. Majima bats cannonballs into barrels, with points redeemable for the Ring of Earth, two crewmates, clothes, music and other prizes. This guide covers the four normal courses, Endless Bang Bang, grade targets, challenge rewards and the prize exchange. What counts as completion? Barrel Basher requires 1,500 barrels destroyed across your games. It does not require 1,500 in one attempt. The batting challenges go further. Their rewards are Reputation, separate from the exchange points earned by playing. - Beginner: A or better: 1,000 Reputation. - Intermediate: A or better: 3,000 Reputation. - Advanced: A or better: 5,000 Reputation. - Expert: A or better: 10,000 Reputation. - Endless Bang Bang: score at least 10,000 in one run: 30,000 Reputation. - Destroy 200 barrels cumulatively: 1,000 Reputation. - Destroy 500 barrels cumulatively: 3,000 Reputation. - Destroy 1,000 barrels cumulatively: 5,000 Reputation. - Destroy 2,000 barrels cumulatively: 10,000 Reputation. For every batting challenge, finish all four normal courses at A or better, reach 10,000 in one Endless attempt, and bring your lifetime barrel total to 2,000. An Endless A is only 8,000, so an A result alone does not finish its 10,000-point challenge. Courses, entry fees and grades Normal courses cost $100 per attempt. Earn A or better to unlock the next difficulty. Endless costs $500 per attempt. Each number below is the minimum score for that grade. These are course scores, not the amount sitting in your prize-exchange balance. Beginner (3 stages; 1.2× clear payout): E 0, D 250, C 1,000, B 1,500, A 2,000, S 4,000. Intermediate (4 stages; 1.5× clear payout): E 0, D 1,000, C 2,000, B 3,000, A 4,000, S 6,000. Advanced (5 stages; 1.8× clear payout): E 0, D 1,000, C 2,000, B 3,500, A 5,000, S 7,000. Expert (6 stages; 2.0× clear payout): E 0, D 1,500, C 3,500, B 6,000, A 9,000, S 11,000. Endless Bang Bang (continuous play; 3.0× clear payout): E 0, D 1,000, C 3,000, B 5,000, A 8,000, S 12,000. Beginner uses Slow, Medium and Fast pitches. Intermediate and Advanced add Very Slow. Expert and Endless also include Very Fast. Hitting accurately Set your aim before the cannon fires. Watch the shrinking timing circle and swing as it meets the inner circle. A cannon tilted upward warns of a slower lob; a flatter angle means a faster arrival. Keep watching the timing marker rather than repeating the previous swing's rhythm. On PlayStation, move the cursor with the left stick or directional buttons, swing with Cross, prepare a Special Swing with R2, and cancel that stance with Circle. On other platforms, follow the corresponding on-screen prompts. Your normal-course objective is to expose the treasure chest's lock and hit it. You do not need to remove every barrel individually. Clear shots also preserve ammunition for the end-of-course bonus. Barrels and Special Swings - Ordinary barrels: remove an obstruction or change how the stack falls. - Red explosive barrels: destroy nearby barrels and can start a chain reaction. - Arrow/missile boxes: clear a line in the direction of the arrow. - +1 barrels: replenish ammunition in Endless. You can hold up to ten cannonballs. - SP barrels: replenish your Special Swing in Endless. You can hold only one charge. A Special Swing clears the visible barrels and the normal course's lock. Use it when a missed shot leaves too little ammunition to finish a stage. Keeping it unused can improve a normal-course bonus, but losing the run to save that bonus is a poor trade. Normal-course target guide These are starting-layout targets. After exposing a lock, hit the lock to finish the stage. A mistimed shot may change the layout, so check the remaining arrows and explosive connections before following the next step. Beginner 1. Trigger both red rows; the lock is central. 2. Explode the red X; the lock is on the right. 3. Trigger the upper and lower red groups; the lock is central. Intermediate 1. Trigger the left red barrels and their missiles. 2. Clear both red-and-missile clusters. 3. Clear the upper and lower clusters. 4. Trigger the upper-left and lower-right missile groups. Advanced 1. Hit any red barrel. 2. Hit the top-row red barrel above the missile. 3. Hit the upper-left missile. 4. Hit a red barrel in the vertical chain. 5. Aim between the missile rows to strike an upward and downward box together. Expert 1. Break an ordinary bottom-row barrel, then trigger the shifted red barrels. 2. Trigger the explosive group at the lower right to uncover the right-side lock. 3. Hit between the left/right missiles at the upper left, then between the up/down missiles at the lower right. 4. Remove a central bottom ordinary barrel, then trigger the red chain. 5. Remove the bottom-left ordinary barrel, then aim between the downward and rightward missiles at the upper left. 6. Trigger the two missile boxes, one shot for each. For Expert's third stage, the paired missiles are a precision target. If repeated attempts are costing you the course, spend your Special Swing there while learning the other stages. These routes are practical targets, not a claim that every stage is solved in its theoretical minimum number of shots. Endless: reach 10,000 and keep going Endless starts with ten cannonballs. There is no chest to open: destroyed barrels are replaced from above until your ammunition runs out. Treat each shot as a resource decision: 1. Find the largest useful explosive or missile chain. 2. Check whether it reaches a +1 barrel. A chain that restores ammunition is often better than a small isolated explosion. 3. Reassess the board after it falls. Do not keep firing at the same coordinates just because the previous shot worked. 4. Use Special Swing to escape an unproductive board or collect several useful barrels together. 5. Avoid wasting an SP refill while already holding a charge. Aim for 10,000 during that attempt for the challenge, or 12,000 for S. Your exchange balance can be much larger without satisfying a single-run target, so watch the run's score. Which bat should you use? - Normal Bat: Starting equipment; standard timing; 1.0× payout. - Serenity Bat: 1,000 points points; more forgiving timing; 0.8× payout. - Expert Bat: 10,000 points points; less forgiving timing; 1.2× payout. Start with Normal. Buy Serenity if timing mistakes are stopping you from learning the boards. Change to Expert once you can consistently land your intended shots. A 20% payout boost is useful only if the tighter timing does not destroy your consistency. Compare a few completed runs rather than assuming the expensive bat is always faster. Complete prize exchange All prices below are batting points. - Silver Treasure Chest: Ring of Earth: 90,000. - Crewmate: Gary Buster Holmes: 60,000. - Crewmate: Masaharu Kaito: 90,000. - Sea Dog Attire (Simple): 6,000. - Apocalypse Clothes: 6,000. - Damaged Shirt: 6,000. - Torn Pants: 6,000. - Damaged Hat: 4,500. - Serenity Bat: 1,000. - Expert Bat: 10,000. - Angry Birds Soundtrack CD 1: 350. - Angry Birds Soundtrack CD 2: 350. - Angry Birds Soundtrack CD 3: 350. - Angry Birds Soundtrack CD 4: 350. - Total War: Pharaoh Soundtrack CD 1: 350. - Total War: Pharaoh Soundtrack CD 2: 350. - Total War: Pharaoh Soundtrack CD 3: 350. - Bronze Plate: 300. - Silver Plate: 3,000. - Gold Plate: 15,000. - Platinum Plate: 30,000. - Swiss Watch: 60,000. - Vintage Luxury Watch: 150,000. If the two crewmates are absent from the exchange, continue Chapter 2 and check the counter again before planning your purchases around them. A sensible farming order 1. Clear the four normal courses for their challenges and learn the layouts. 2. Earn the Endless 10,000-point challenge while working toward the barrel milestones. 3. Save for the Ring of Earth if collecting treasures is your priority, or buy the crewmate you want first. 4. Finish your remaining one-time items before buying pawn-shop valuables. The chest and both crewmates cost 240,000 points combined. Adding the five clothing pieces, both purchasable bats and all seven CDs brings that shopping target to 281,950 points, excluding plates and watches. Subtract anything already purchased. Endless offers the largest course multiplier, but a repeatable Advanced clear can be a better choice if your Endless attempts end quickly. Measure the points you actually bank per minute, including failed attempts. A dependable route is more useful than a maximum-score strategy you cannot yet execute.